The present invention relates to a cash-recycling-type bill handling machine for receiving and dispensing banknotes.
Automated teller machines (hereafter referred to as ATMs) are used for deposits and withdrawals from and to customers in diverse credit institutions. The ATM has a built-in bill handling machine for receiving, storing, and dispensing banknotes. The banknote handling machine sends banknotes from an inner cabinet to a money slot in response to an instruction from the upper-level ATM. One typical example of the bill handing machine is a cash recycling type that allows received banknotes to be recycled for subsequent dispensing.
Series of banknotes handled by the bill handing machine may have significantly varying sizes. For example, the size of euro banknotes significantly varies in a range of 62 to 82 mm in length and in a range of 120 to 160 mm in width, while the length of Japanese banknotes is fixed to 76 mm and the width varies only in a range of 150 to 160 mm.
With a view to reduction of manufacturing cost and flexible operations of the bill handling machine, it is preferable that a cabinet in the bill handing machine is applicable commonly for various series of banknotes. The cabinet is thus designed according to the maximum size of banknotes handled. Such design may cause an inadequate storage state of smaller-sized banknotes, for example, a jog state. The inadequate storage state may result in malfunction in the course of conveying and storing banknotes.
This problem is frequently observed when the size of the cabinet is excessively marginal to the size of banknotes stored therein, although not restrictive. Even when the size of the cabinet is suitable for the size of banknotes, the conveyance state may cause inadequate storage.
The object of the present invention is thus to solve the problems discussed above and to provide a technique of preventing banknotes from being stored in an inadequate state in a cabinet of a cash recycling-type bill handling machine.
In order to attain at least part of the above and the other related objects, the technique of the present invention determines whether or not a conveyance state of each banknote is adequate for storage in a recycle cabinet, and conveys unfit banknotes to a non-recycle cabinet. The recycle cabinet stores fit banknotes recyclable for subsequent dispensing, among received banknotes. The non-recycle cabinet stores unfit banknotes for subsequent dispensing, among the receiving banknotes. This arrangement desirably prevents storage of banknotes in the recycle cabinet in an inadequate state and stabilizes operations of the bill handling machine.
In the technique of the present invention, the non-recycle cabinet may be identical with or separate from a reject cabinet that stores counterfeits and badly damaged banknotes. In the case of using the separate reject cabinet and non-recycle cabinet, the non-recycle cabinet stores recyclable banknotes if the conveyance state to the cabinet is adequate for storage. The advantage of this application is effective use of such banknotes without re-identification.
The determination of the conveyance state is carried out, for example, based on a deviation or an inclination of banknotes in a conveyance module. The deviation may represent an offset or a difference between the center point of a bank note in the optimum conveyance state and the center point of a bank note actually conveyed. The inclination may represent a skew angle or an angle of the symmetrical axis of a banknote to a conveying direction.
One preferable procedure sets a reference value used for determination of adequacy of the conveyance state, and compares the observed deviation or inclination with the predetermined reference value. The reference value may be fixed but is preferably changed over according to the width of the banknotes. The effect of the deviation or the inclination on the storage state of the banknote typically depends upon the width of the banknote. This arrangement thus ensures accurate determination of adequacy of the conveyance state. Namely the arrangement prevents the banknotes in the inadequate conveyance state from being mistakenly determined to be in the adequate conveyance state, while preventing the banknotes in the adequate conveyance state from being mistakenly determined to be in the inadequate conveyance state and unnecessarily increasing the number of banknotes conveyed to the non-recycle cabinet.
Although the technique of the invention may handle only one banknote series, the technique is effectively applied to handle a plurality of different banknote series. In the structure of changing over the reference value according to the width of the banknote, the reference value is preset according to the banknote series handled in the former case. In the latter case, on the other hand, the reference value should be changed over dynamically according to the banknote series. One preferable application for readily changing over the reference value stores in advance a mapping of the banknote series to the reference value and identifies the series of the received banknotes.
A diversity of techniques may be applied to set the reference value described above or another criterion for determination of adequacy of the conveyance state. For example, the bill handling machine may be provided with a setup panel for such setting. The bill handling machine having the function of communicating with an upper-level device or an external device may carry out the setting through communication. One embodiment causes information regarding the banknote series to be stored and the criterion to be recorded in the recycle cabinet and reads this information from the recycle cabinet included in the bill handling machine. In the setting of the reference value, it is preferable to preset a recommended value corresponding to each banknote series. In practice, it is further preferable that the recommended value can be varied in the course of operations of the bill handling machine.
In the technique of the present invention, the conveyance state of each banknote may be detected, based on imaging of the banknote. A digital camera, a scanner, or any other suitable device may be utilized for imaging. The imaging may be carried out independently for identification of the banknote type. Another detection method uses a sensor that is disposed to detect the pass position of each banknote in a direction crossing over the conveying direction in the conveyance module. The sensor may be an optical sensor, an acoustic sensor like a ultrasonic sensor, or a mechanical sensor utilizing, for example, a micro-switch.
The conveyance operation in the bill handing machine includes a cash counting operation that conveys the received banknotes to the temporary storage unit and a cash storage operation that conveys banknotes from the temporary storage unit to the recycle cabinet or the non-recycle cabinet. It is preferable to adopt a stricter criterion in the cash storage operation than that in the cash counting operation with regard to the determination of the conveyance state adequate for storage of the recycle cabinet. The strict criterion is not adopted for both the cash counting operation and the cash storage operation. Adequacy of the conveyance state may not be determined in the process of the cash counting operation. This application effectively prevents an unnecessary increase in number of banknotes conveyed to the non-recycle cabinet.
The technique of the present invention is especially effective when an allowable banknote storage width in the recycle cabinet is significantly larger than a width of banknotes to be stored in the recycle cabinet, since the inadequate storage state often occurs in such cases. The term xe2x80x98significantly largerxe2x80x99 means that there is an excess margin, which may cause a jog of banknotes, over an allowable range, which depends upon a banknote receiving and dispensing mechanism into and from the recycle cabinet for adequate receiving and dispensing of banknotes.
The technique of the present invention is not restricted to the bill handling machine, but may be actualized by a diversity of other applications, for example, a conveyance control method that controls a storage location of banknotes in a cash recycling-type bill handling machine. Other applications also include a computer program that causes the computer to attain such control and a recording medium in which the computer program is recorded. Typical examples of the recording medium include flexible disks, CD-ROMs, DVDs, magneto-optic discs, IC cards, ROM cartridges, punched cards, prints with barcodes or other codes printed thereon, internal storage devices (memories like a RAM and a ROM) and external storage devices of the computer, and a variety of other computer readable media.